This invention is directed to methods and apparatus utilized in the meatpacking industry for breaking carcasses, processing the cuts obtained from the breaking operations, and handling the meat as it passes through the various stages of such an operation.
In the meat industry, and particularly in those areas devoted to the processing of beef, it has been customary for the meatpacker to slaughter the animals, dress them and then ship the carcasses, in the form of sides or quarters, to a purveyor or to a retailer who then subdivides it into consumer cuts which are marketable to the public or the restaurant trade.
Utilizing previous techniques, the cost of shipping the dressed carcasses inherently involves payment of a shipping charge for undesired and inedible portions such as bone and fat. Moreover, the relatively inefficient procedure used by small fabricators, purveyors and markets involves a relatively inefficient use of manual labor which is due both to the unnecessary manhandling of the large bodies of meat and to the manner in which various bodies of meat must be routed through such facilities
The usual procedures for breaking carcasses have, for the most part, been inefficient and require a substantial amount of manual labor for supporting and manipulating the heavy portions of the carcass. An example of this is when a forequarter is removed from a side of beef which is supported on a gambrel or hook. This is usually done by sawing through the carcass as the forequarter is supported by two or more men who then lower it onto a cutting table or carry it to another place where it is to be further fabricated. In some instances, it has been proposed to provide a suspended support for lower portions of the carcass as they are cut; however, these techniques are not adapted to the high-production rate of the carcass breaking facility of this invention.
In the past, overhead conveyor rails have been used in conjunction with beef boning processes wherein boneless cuts of meat are removed from the suspended carcass at work stations along the conveyor, thus leaving the entire skeleton suspended from the rail. According to the present invention, however, portions such as primal cuts which include meat bone and fat are removed from a suspended carcass as it moves along the rail.
The customary method of supporting a large body of meat from an overhead conveyor is to employ a hook which penetrates the meat. Repeated handling of the meat, such as a beef chuck, results in many holes through the meat due to the use of the hooks, thereby damaging the meat to some extent and reducing its marketability. This is avoided by this invention.